Eric Halladay (9 July 1930 – 19 July 1997) was a British historian, academic, and rowing coach. He was

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

Grey College, Durham Grey College is a Colleges of Durham University, college of Durham University in England, founded in 1959 as part of the university's expansion of its student population. The college is named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, who was Prime Mi ...

from 1980 to 1989, Rector of

St Aidan's College, Durham St Aidan's College is a college of Durham University in England. It had its origins in 1895 as the association of women home students, formalised in 1947 as St Aidan's Society. In 1961, it became a full college of the university, and in 1964 mo ...

from 1990 to 1991, and

Principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

St Chad's College, Durham St Chad's College is one of the Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, recognised colleges of Durham University. Founded in 1904 as St Chad's Hall for the training of Church of England clergy, the college ceased theological training in ...

from 1991 to 1994.

Early life

Halladay was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

on 9 July 1930 and was the son of a

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

. He was educated at

Durham School Durham School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding and day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located in Durham, England, Durham, North East England. Since 2021 it has been part of th ...

, where he learnt to row on the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...

. He studied history at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

and was a member of the

Lady Margaret Boat Club The Lady Margaret Boat Club (abbreviated to "LMBC" and known as "Maggie") is the Sport rowing, rowing club for members of St John's College, Cambridge, England. The club is named after Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, Lady Mar ...

. Following his graduation from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, he studied theology at

Ripon Hall Ripon College Cuddesdon (RCC) is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and ...

, Oxford, for one year.

Career

Military service

On 14 February 1949, as part of

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, he was granted an emergency commission in the

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

with the rank of second lieutenant. He served with the 5th

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. Although the cavalry link rem ...

. On 21 December 1951, he was transferred to the Supplementary Reserve officers and granted seniority in the rank of second lieutenant from 4 August 1950. On 7 June 1952, he was promoted to

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant on 9 July 1953 with seniority from 7 July 1952. On 22 July 1958, he was transferred to the Territorial Army Reserve of Officers.

Academic career

Halladay began his academic career not as a lecturer but a teacher. He taught history at Exeter School, a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, Devon. In 1960, he was appointed a senior lecturer at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

. While his main duties at the academy were to teach the

officer cadets Officer cadet is a rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Training Corps. The ...

military history, he also coached the Boat Club. He joined

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

in 1964 as a lecturer in history. He specialised in military and African history. The same year, he was appointed senior tutor of

. He co-wrote ''The Building of Modern Africa'' with D. D. Rooney which was published in 1966. He was appointed Vice-Master of Grey in 1967, therefore deputising to the then Master Sidney Holgate. In 1972, his book ''The Emergent Continent: Africa in the Nineteenth Century'' was published. In 1980, he became the second

of Grey College. As the head of college, he became a part-time lecturer. He then moved colleges, and served as

from 1991 to 1994.

Rowing coach

In 1963, Halladay coached a team from the

to win the

Ladies' Challenge Plate The Ladies' Challenge Plate is one of the events at Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. Crews of men's eight-oared boats below the standard of the Grand Challenge Cup can enter, although international standa ...

. This was the first

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

he would win.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halladay, Eric 1930 births 1997 deaths Academics of Durham University Masters of Grey College, Durham Principals of St Chad's College, Durham People educated at Durham School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Royal Artillery officers Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon 20th-century British historians Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta Schoolteachers from Devon People from Huddersfield